A good day for Porsche and PorschePurist.com and a great day for Farnbacher Loles. PorschePurist.com started the day at Mid-Ohio at the Farnbacher Loles paddock for an interview with Dirk Werner (as part of the PorschePurist.com Great Drivers Series) and ended it watching one of our favorite teams and drivers come from last place to first to take the podium in the GT class at the EMCO Gears Classic at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

This was the second straight win for Leh Keen and Dirk Werner and boosted their stranglehold on both the drivers and team championship lead as the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series passed the halfway mark.

The #87 Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup entry came from last-to-first place Saturday to capture the Acxiom GT class victory in the EMCO Gears Classic at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The victory was the second straight for Leh Keen (Charleston, SC) and Dirk Werner (Germany) and boosted their stranglehold on both the drivers and team championship points lead as the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask N0. 16 passed the halfway point of the season.

Keen started the race dead last, 16th among the GT entries. Keen had broken the Mid-Ohio track GT qualifying record Friday, bit his time was disallowed after the car failed technical inspection – the ride height was too low, the result of a damaged rivet on the under-tray.

“From last to first is pretty cool,” said Keen. “That was our goal – winning the race after starting last – but we would have been happy with a podium finish protecting our points lead. I have to thank my crew for giving me an awesome car. This was a great win for us.”

Keen had broken the Mid-Ohio track GT qualifying record Friday, bit his time was disallowed after the car failed technical inspection – the ride height was too low, the result of a damaged rivet on the under-tray.

“It was very easy for me to bring it home,” said Werner, who led the final 43 laps. “Leh did a great job bringing the car to the front. All I had to do was take care of traffic. It was a perfect day for me. I don’t know what to do to thank the guys (the Farnbacher Loles crew) except to do it (win) again the next race.”

It was the third win for the Werner/Keen Porsche, with the TRG win at Daytona giving Porsche four of the six GT victories. Pontiac and Mazda have won the other two events. For Porsche, it was the 60th Rolex Grand-Am GT victory, and 248th Grand-Am podium finish.

Porsche-Powered Daytona Prototypes

While the three Porsche-Powered Daytona Prototypes failed to reach the podium, all three finished in the top 10 on the lead lap with Porsche works drivers Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas placing fourth in the #12 Verizon Wireless Penske Porsche Riley.

It was a more encouraging day for the Porsche DPs, despite failure to gain the podium. The two Brumos Porsche entries were more competitive than in recent races, and Darren Law (Phoenix, AZ) led laps 27-39 in the #58 Brumos Porsche Riley he shared with David Donohue (Malvern, PA). They finished 10th after running as high as fifth, and only a collision with their sister car dropped them back.

“We still don’t have the power of the V-8s, but the handling is getting better and that is encouraging,“ Law said. “Good strategy put us in position to run at the front, and it was very nice to lead (laps 27-39). Then at the end we got into some fierce traffic and David (Donohue) got bumped, so we finished worst than we should have.”

The #59 Brumos Porsche Riley of JC France (Ormond Beach, FL) and Joao Barbosa (Portugal) finished fifth, just 15 seconds behind the winning #01 Lexus Riley of Scott Pruett (Auburn, CA) and Memo Rojas (Mexico).

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PorschePurist.com’s Great Drivers Series

[Source: PCNA]

On Wednesday, Car and Driver scooped the automotive press with their first drive of the Porsche Panamera. While I’m still waiting for my shot for some seat time I was able to get my hands on some nice new pictures that were taken just this week and not yet published anywhere. The car is a Panamera S, the color is Platinum Silver Metallic. I’m told that the color has the tendency to look different depending on lighting and angle.

Along with the pictures came a significant amount of marketing and PR material. In fact, I’m still working through some of it. A lot of it was written for Europe and the UK so the specs were metric. However, this particular car (the S variant) comes in at just under 4000 lbs and has a top speed of 177 mph. What’s interesting, is that even though the S weighs 140lbs less than the otherwise similar 4S, the all wheel drive version still sees 60 mph in 4.6 seconds* or almost a half a second faster than the S version. That’s power management for you.

While I’d like to say this will be my last Panamera post until I drive one, I’m not sure I would be telling the truth. We’ll just have to wait and see. Enjoy the rest of the pictures.

*With optional Sport Chrono

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[Source: PCNA]

A lot can happen in a month’s time. If you’re not able to keep up with each Porsche Motorsport post here on PorschePurist.com and would prefer a brief synopsis of what’s happening in the world of Porsche Motorsport, there is no better way to stay in touch than by reviewing the monthly Porsche Motorsport Newsletter. Filled with interesting facts and figures about past and upcoming races, along with changes to team and crew, the Porsche Motorsport Newsletter is an easy way to keep up-to-date on this year’s racing activities.

FIA GT Championship: Second race, second win for Collard and Westbrook

FIA GT Championship: Porsche juniors seize their chance

International GT Open: First victory for Richard Lietz and Gianluca Roda

Photo finish and the first win of the season for works driver Richard Lietz and the Italian Gianluca Roda in an Autorlando Sport 911 GT3 RSR at the third round of the International GT Open on the Autodrómo do Algarve (16 May). Round four (17 May) saw local heroes Manuel Giao and Pedro Couceiro claim second place in the sister Autorlando-911, whilst Lietz/Roda finished fourth to now rank second in the points.

Italian GT Championship: Super interim result for Maassen/Cruz-Martins

Four starts, three wins: an impressive interim result for Francisco Cruz-Martins and Sascha Maassen after the first two race weekends of the Italian GT Championship in Vallelunga and Magione. Maassen and Cruz-Martins race a 911 GT3 RSR fielded by the Autorlando Sport team in the GT2 class.

Grand-Am Koni Challenge, USA: TRG fastest Porsche team

The Porsche 911 race cars of the TRG team are programmed for top results in the Grand-Am Koni Challenge: Andy Lally and John Potter won the sixth round in Watkins Glen (5 June), after securing second place at the fifth round in Lime Rock Park (25 May).

Other race notes:

Victory number four in a row for Porsche and a new distance record of 3,933 kilometres at the Nürburgring 24 Hour Race (23/24 May) for Timo Bernhard, Marc Lieb, Romain Dumas and Marcel Tiemann with a 911 GT3 RSR of Manthey Racing

• With a 14 lap advantage, the Essex team from Denmark with drivers Emmanuel Collard, Casper Elgaard and Kristian Poulsen scored a clear win at the Le Mans 24 Hours (13/14 June) in the LMP2 class. Running second, the RS Spyder of Japan’s NAVI Team Goh retired an hour before the flag after an accident.
• Points’ leader Joerg Bergmeister and Patrick Long won the GT2 class with the 911 GT3 RSR of Flying Lizard Motorsports at round four of the ALMS in Salt Lake City (17 May). Second for Wolf Henzler and Marc Lieb in the Farnbacher-Loles-Porsche. Victory at the first race of the ALMS Challenge Class went to Martin and Melanie Snow in a 911 GT3 Cup.
• After claiming third at round five of the Grand-Am Series in Watkins Glen (6 June), Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas rank second in the drivers’ standings for Daytona Prototypes. In the GT class, Dirk Werner and Leh Keen took over the points lead in the Farnbacher Loles GT3 Cup with their second win of the season in Watkins Glen.
• The Danish Essex team won the LMP2 class at round two of Le Mans Series in Spa (10 May) with an RS Spyder driven by Emmanuel Collard, Casper Elgaard as well as Kristian Poulsen. Success for Porsche in the GT2 class as well: Works pilots Marc Lieb and Richard Lietz yielded their second win of the season.

One make race series

• With his third win of the season at the fifth round of the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup in Istanbul (7 June), Konrad Motorsport pilot Jeroen Bleekemolen extended his points’ lead. Victory at round four in Monaco (24 May) went to Richard Westbrook in his Federsand-Jetstream Motorsport 911.
• On the Goldenport International Circuit in Beijing, Darryl O’Young (Team Jebsen) won the third round of the Carrera Cup Asia (10 May) ahead of Christian Menzel (Team StarChase). The German responded with a win at the fourth race.
• At the second race of the Carrera Cup Deutschland on the EuroSpeedway (31 May), also marking the 1,000th Carrera Cup race, Thomas Jäger (MS Racing PZ Hamburg Nord-West) netted his first victory. Race one in Hockenheim (17 May) went to Jan Seyffarth in the tolimit/Seyffarth Motorsport Porsche.
• Frédéric Gabillon (Pro GT by Almeras) secured his first victory at the third round of the Carrera Cup France in Dijon (9 May), with Renaud Derlot (Graff Racing) defending his points’ lead with his second win at round four (10 May). Kevin Estre won rounds five and six in Magny-Cours (30/31 May).
• Fourteen-hundredths of a second separated winner Michael Caine (Motorbase Performance) from Tim Harvey at the fifth round of the Carrera Cup Great Britain in Donington (17 May). James Sutton (Redline Racing) claimed victory at the sixth race. Tim Bridgman (Team Parker Racing) won both races in Oulton Park (31 May).
• Round three of the Carrera Cup Italia on the Adria International Raceway was won by Christian Passuti. Race four went to ex-Formula 1 driver Emanuele Naspetti (10/11 May). The winner of the fifth race in Vallelunga (30 May) was Luca Rangoni, with Massimo Monti prevailing at round six (31 May).
• With pole position and three wins from three races of the 2009 Carrera Cup Japan in Sportsland Sugo (10 May), Y. Shimizu (Art Taste Cup) confirmed his role as favourite.
• Martin Öhlin (Rickardsson Racing) won rounds three and four of the Carrera Cup Scandinavia in the Karlskoga Motorstadium (22/23 May). Fredrik Larsson (IPS Motorsport) won the fifth and sixth rounds on the Gothenburg City Circuit (5/6 June).
• Matt Kingsley (Action Motorsport Gold Coast) catapulted into the points’ lead of the GT3 Cup Challenge Australia with three victories on Phillip Island (16/17 May) and also yielded the maximum points tally twice in Mallala (6/7 June).
• Securing two victories at the third race weekend of the GT3 Cup Challenge Brasil (8-9 May) held on the Interlagos race track, reigning champion Miguel Paludo moved into the points lead.
• Martin Snow (Snow Racing) won both 30-minute races of the Patrón GT3 Cup Challenge in Salt Lake City (15-16 May). In the Gold class for 911 GT3 Cup from 2005 to 2007, victory went to Brian Wong and Melanie Snow (Snow Racing).

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[Source: Porsche]

First, pick yourself up off the ground. Second, you drive it of course!!! Unfortunately, unless you’re one of the anointed few at the likes of Car and Driver then chances of driving one anytime soon are Slim to none (and Slim, as it’s been said, is in Texas drinking a beer). So, in the mean while, I’ll just have to settle for pictures courtesy of those that have had a Panamera show up in their driveway.

The picture above was sent to me today as a teaser for more to follow. The best parts about this picture, and the ones coming later in the week, are that:

1. They have never been published before.
2. They are the first I’ve seen that aren’t staged, Photo-Shopped or otherwise re-touched.

The fact is, the more I see the Panamera, the more I like. There, I said it again. I like the Panamera (but I still want to drive it). Let the flaming begin!!!

Porsche Panamera Pricing and other Vital Statistics

• Panamera S – $89,800
• Panamera 4S – $93,800
• Panamera Turbo – $132,600

ENGINES: DOHC 32-valve V-8, aluminum block and heads, direct fuel injection (S & 4S variants) / twin-turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 32-valve V-8, aluminum block and heads, direct fuel injection

TRANSMISSION: 7-speed dual-clutch automated manual (or, PDK for short).

DIMENSIONS:Wheelbase: 115.0 in Length: 195.7 in Width: 76.0 in Height: 55.8 in Curb weight: 3950–4350 lb (NO GETTING AROUND IT, THE PANAMERA IS A BIG CAR!!)

PERFORMANCE:
Zero to 60 mph: 4.0–5.2 sec (RUMOR HAS IT, THAT IF PROPERLY EQUIPPED WITH SPORT CHRONO, YOU CAN SHAVE ALMOST .2 SECONDS OFF THESE TIMES)
Top speed: 175–188 mph

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[Source: PCNA, Car & Driver]

The 2009 54th Annual PCA Parade, being held June 29th to July 4th in Keystone Colorado, is fast approaching. This year, the Parade’s Time Speed Distance (TSD) rally on July 1st is sponsored by Mobil 1. As most of you know, Porsche and Mobil 1 have a long and storied partnership dating back to 1996. 13 years later the relationship is stronger than ever with Mobil 1 used as the exclusive factory fill, and recommended service fill, for all Porsche engines and a sponsor to Porsche Motorsport.

To help celebrate this working relationship, and showcase Mobil 1′s involvement with the PCA 2009 Porsche Parade and TSD Rally, PorschePurist.com’s Valerie Roedenbeck and Christian Maloof are attending the Parade and Rally courtesy of Mobil 1 and will be reporting live here on the blog, Facebook group and Twitter on their experiences and adventures. It should be very interesting to see how a Grand-Am KONI Challenge driver (Christian) does trying to stick to the time/speed rules of the rally (assuming they even let him drive) We’re kicking things off and revving up the excitement by giving away five cases of Mobil 1 oil.

That’s right, free Mobil 1!

If you’re one of the five lucky winners*, just pick your favorite flavor/viscosity and we’ll ship it directly to your door, courtesy of Mobil 1. Here’s how you can win:

1. Spread the word. We want people to know about Mobil 1′s involvement with Porsche and the PCA so help us spread the word by posting a link to this article on another Porsche related web-site, Porsche based forum or other automotive enthusiast site. Once you post the link, let us know by commenting below (be sure to include your email and let us know where you posted the link). We’ll randomly pick two winners from this group of entries on the day of the TSD.
2. Follow-us on Twitter. Do you Tweet? If so, you can win a case of Mobil 1 oil. How? Simple. Follow PorschePurist on Twitter. We’ll keep a list of all those who start following us as of the publication of this post. We’ll randomly pick one of the next 100 people who sign up to follow our updates and announce the winner on the day of the TSD. It’s that simple.
3. Find us at Parade. Valerie and Christian will be participating in the TSD on July 1st and enjoying the other events with everyone else. They will both be wearing PorschePurist.com polo shirts (and also have some goodies to hand out). The first person to find them at Parade, mention this post and ask for a case of Mobil 1 will win. Make sure when you see Valerie or Christian you give them your preferred choice of oil and your address!!!



PorschePurist.com’s Christian Maloof and Valerie Roedenbeck with Wolf Henzler at Sebring 2009
4. Random Reader. If you want a case of oil and feel like telling us why we should send one to you, comment below. The best reason, as determined by our judges (that’s me) wins!!!

If you can’t make it to the PCA Parade this year, be sure to check out PorschePurist.com as we will be live blogging when we can, tweeting when we can’t and giving a daily round-up while we’re there.

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*Can only ship to the US and Canada

[Source: PCA, Mobil 1, Porsche and 993C4S]

The success story of the Porsche RS Spyder continues: At the Le Mans 24 Hour race, the Essex team (Denmark) celebrated a clear victory in the LMP2 class. The 440 hp sports prototype from Weissach also won the energy efficiency classification “Michelin Green X Challenge” as the car with the best overall efficiency, calculated by the ratio between lap times and fuel consumption. The RS Spyder of the Danish customer team beat its rivals in the LMP2 class by 15 laps. One hour before the end of the race, the RS Spyder of NAVI Team GOH spun off the track while running an easy second under braking for the first chicane on the Hunaudières straight on an oil spill of a competitor, hit the barriers and retired. The Japanese driver Seiji Ara was uninjured.

“We’re proud that in customer hands the RS Spyder not only confirmed its high speed and reliability again but also won the environmental classification. It’s such a great pity that the second RS Spyder retired. NAVI Team GOH put in an immaculate performance and really would have deserved to secure second,” said Porsche Head of Motorsport, Hartmut Kristen. In 2008, the RS Spyder won the energy efficiency challenge at all races and championships – in the Le Mans 24 Hours, the American Le Mans Series and the European Le Mans Series. With this, the RS Spyder impressively underlined its status as the world’s most efficient sports prototype.

“After claiming second last year we are absolutely over the moon with our victory today,” said Essex driver Casper Elgaard (Denmark). “This is a huge success for our Danish team, which only began competing in long distance racing last year.” Porsche works driver Emmanuel Collard (France) added: “The key to success was the RS Spyder. We didn’t have the slightest technical problem and turned fast and steady laps.” Only once in the night was there an unscheduled stop. Before the first Hunaudières chicane, the two close-running RS Spyder hit a patch of oil and began to slide. Keisuki Kunimoto (NAVI Team GOH) nudged the Essex car, resulting in both vehicles having body parts replaced. “Our crew did a super job,” said the third Essex driver, Kristian Poulsen (Denmark), who celebrated his Le Mans debut with victory. “I would like to thank the team and mostly Casper and Emmanuel. They did most of the work.”

After a break of four years, NAVI Team GOH, Le Mans winner of 2004 with Seiji Ara, looked like they would bring home a safe second place right up until an hour before the flag – with a ten lap advantage over third position. Oil from a competitor became Ara’s eventual fate. “I had no chance. Two wheels hit the oil that I couldn’t see while braking,” said Seiji Ara. “It’s a bitter end of a great race. I’m pleased that the RS Spyder is not only fast, but also safe.” His compatriot Keisuke Kunimoto contested the long distance classic for the first time. Porsche works driver Sascha Maassen was full of praise: “I salute our team’s performance. Perfect preparation, perfect team work in every respect. I’m so sorry that we couldn’t bring home the success they deserved.” For the perfect work in the pit stops, the team received a special prize from the organisers.

Porsche works drivers Timo Bernhard (Germany) and Romain Dumas (France), lent to Audi for the Le Mans 24 hour race, lost all chances to win with a technical defect in their #3 Audi R15 TDI which resulted in repairs over several hours on Saturday night. With their chase through the field from the back to finish 18th, the two shone with their excellent lap times. “It hurts to be out of contention for overall victory so early on,” summarised Bernhard. “Still, it was great fun. The Audi crew made us feel very welcome from the first moment on,” added Dumas.

In the production-based GT2 class, the double pole for the 911 GT3 RSR from qualifying could not be turned into a race success. After just two hours, the race came to an end for the three Porsche works drivers Marc Lieb (Germany), Richard Lietz (Austria) and Wolf Henzler (Germany). A problem with the fuel system caused the engine of the 911 to die and not start again – 100 metres from the entrance to the pit lane. As the regulations do not allow a car to be towed in such a case, the leading trio of the German Felbermayr-Proton team had no chance to repair the otherwise technically perfect 911 and retired. “Of course I’m very disappointed,” said Marc Lieb. “But we are looking ahead and already looking forward to the next race in the Le Mans Series, where we want to extend our championship lead with another victory.”

For the American Flying Lizard team, the 2009 Le Mans race ended in the early morning hours when Darren Law (USA) collided heavily with the barriers. Prior to this, pole-setter Jörg Bergmeister (Germany) and team owner/gentleman driver Seth Neiman (USA) were steadily moving in the direction of a podium result with their GT3 RSR. The French IMSA Performance Matmut team with Porsche works drivers Patrick Pilet (France) and Patrick Long (USA) as well as Raymond Narac (France) maintained third place for more than two-thirds of the race distance. On Sunday morning a problem with the power transmission put an end to their promising charge.

24 Hour of Le Mans Race results for LMP2

1. Elgaard/Collard/Poulsen (DK/F/DK), Porsche RS Spyder, 357 laps
2. Kane/Leuenberger/Pompidou (GB/CH/F), Lola Judd, 353
3. Nicolet/Hein/Yvon (F/MC/F), Pescarolo Mazda, 325
4. Barazi/Bennett/Moseley (DK/GB/GB), Zytek 07S, 306

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[Source: Porsche]

A perfect start to the French long distance classic: At the qualifying session for the Le Mans 24 hour race, Porsche race cars claimed pole position in both the LMP2 class for sports prototypes as well as in the production-based GT2 category. Competing for Denmark’s Essex racing as a regular driver, Casper Elgaard (Denmark) qualified the RS Spyder on pole in the LMP2 class in 3:37.720 minutes. The second RS Spyder, fielded by the Japanese NAVI team Goh and manned by Seiji Ara (Japan), followed in second, a mere 0.082 seconds slower than the pole-sitter. With these brilliant times, the two vehicles left the rest of the LMP2 field a good four seconds behind them on the 13.629 kilometer circuit.

At the top of the GT2 category, the situation was equally as tight. Porsche works drivers Joerg Bergmeister (Germany, Flying Lizard team) and Marc Lieb (Germany, Felbermayr-Proton) were separated by just 0.03 seconds with their two Porsche 911 GT3 RSR at the head of the field. The 77th running of the long distance classic takes off on Saturday, 13 June, at 15.00 hours. Porsche is excellently represented in the race. Aside from the two sports prototypes, which last year celebrated a double victory, international customer teams field a total of five 911.

The 2009 Essex squad, which last year came second in the LMP2 class, consists of pole-sitter Elgaard as well as his compatriot Kristian Poulsen and Porsche works driver Emmanuel Collard (France). “Although we couldn’t work on the race set-up because of the rain during yesterday’s free practice, the RS Spyder felt very good right from the start in the dry today. The balance was just right. We’ve made great improvements with the Michelin tyres compared to last year. They are perfect for the car.” Essex team’s RS Spyder surprised fans in Le Mans with a completely new look. The green paintwork symbolises that the car is the official “Michelin Green X Challenge” ambassador. Last year, the RS Spyder won Michelin’s efficiency award at the 24 hour race and in the Le Mans Series as the vehicle with the best overall efficiency in the field, which was calculated from a combination of high average speed and low fuel consumption. The Danes received the right to compete at Le Mans through their result in the efficiency classification from last year.

Seiji Ara of Japan’s NAVI Team GOH, overall winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2004 with Goh, was slightly unhappy after narrowly missing out on pole position. “The front position was within reach,” said Ara, who last drove in Le Mans in 2005, “but then I got caught in traffic on the fast passage. Never mind! We have an excellent car. Most of all, I’m very impressed with the braking stability of the RS Spyder. It’s huge fun to brake for the narrow corners from over 300 kph.” Joining forces with Ara is his 20-year-old countryman Keisuke Kunimoto, who won the famous Formula 3 street race through Macao last year, and the German Porsche factory pilot Sascha Maassen. “From the first moment on I was involved in the development of the RS Spyder,” said the 39-year-old German. “For that reason my dream and my goal is to win the fastest and most fascinating long distance race in the world.”

The two Porsche works drivers Timo Bernhard (Germany) and Romain Dumas (France), lent to Audi to contest the race, take up the 24 hour event from seventh in the overall classification. They share driving duties with Audi pilot Alexandre Prémat (France) at the wheel of an R15 TDI in the most powerful class of the LMP1 sports prototypes. “During qualifying we concentrated predominantly on the car’s race set-up, and not just on turning out a quick qualifying lap,” the German said. “Being new to the diesel vehicle this was very important, particularly because we didn’t get a chance yesterday in the wet and there was no pre-testing here on the track in the lead up to the race. Romain and I are very happy to get the chance to drive for overall victory in an LMP1 vehicle. We have received a warm welcome from the Audi crew and feel right at home here. That’s not something I simply take for granted.”

For a long time it looked as if Marc Lieb, Richard Lietz (Germany) and Wolf Henzler (Germany) would bring home an unchallenged top time in the GT2 class. But in the dying minutes of the qualifying, Joerg Bergmeister snatched the pole position away. The Porsche works driver from Germany competes in the 911 GT3 RSR of the American Flying Lizard team with Seth Neiman and Darren Law (both USA). “In the first instance it was important for my two team mates to get a couple of laps in on a dry track,” said Bergmeister. “During the first part of the qualifying we worked on the set-up and only put in some fast laps towards the end on a fresh set of tyres. I turned a relatively decent lap before it got dark. In the second session I continued working on the set-up.”

Marc Lieb was also satisfied: “Our whole package is very good with a great team, great car and great drivers. So, we’re feeling quite optimistic for the race.” Taking up the race from sixth in the GT2 class is the IMSA Performance Matmut team with the two Porsche works drivers Patrick Pilet (France), Patrick Long (USA) as well as Raymond Narac (France). The second IMSA-911, with drivers Horst Felbermayr Jr., Horst Felbermayr Sr. (both Austria) and Michel Lecourt (France) head into the race from 14th, ahead of the 911 GT3 RSR of the Endurance Asia team with drivers Darryl O’Young (China), Philippe Hesnault (France) and Plamen Kralev (Bulgaria).

Qualifying result LMP2

1. Elgaard/Collard/Poulsen (DK/F/DK), Porsche RS Spyder, 3:37.720 minutes
2. Ara/Kunimoto/Maassen (J/J/D), Porsche RS Spyder, + 0.082 seconds
3. Kane/Leuenberger/Pompidou (GB/CH/F), Lola Judd, + 4.004
4. Erdos/Newton/Dyson (GB/GB/USA), Lola Mazda, + 4.232
5. Pla/Amaral/Smith (F/P/GB), Ginetta-Zytek, + 4.292
6. Biaggi/Bobbi/Piccini (I/I/I), Lola Judd, + 5.128
7. Ojjeh/Gosselin/Peter (SAU/F/A), Zytek, + 7.110
8. Lahaye/Ajlani/Moureau (F/SYR/F), Pescarolo Mazda, + 7.312
9. Barazi/Bennett/Moseley (DK/GB/GB), Zytek 07S, + 15.263
10. Noda/Pourtales/Marsh (J/F/GB), Lola Mazda, + 15.352

Qualifying result GT2

1. Neiman/Law/Bergmeister (USA/USA/D), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 4.03.202 minutes
2. Lietz/Lieb/Henzler (A/D/D), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, + 0.030 seconds
3. Melo/Kaffer/Salo (BR/D/FIN), Ferrari F430 GT, + 0.854
3. Bouchut/Lebon/Rodrigues (F/F/F), Ferrari F 430 GT, + 0.882
5. Malucelli/Ruberti/Babini (I/I/I/), Ferrari F 430 GT, + 1.020
6. Pilet/Narac/Long (F/F/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, + 1.446
7. Bruni/Companc/Russo (I/ARG/ARG), Ferrari F 430 GT, + 1.736
8. Bell/Kirkaldy/Sugden (GB/GBGB), Ferrari F430 GT, + 1.966
9. Cocker/Drayson/Franchitti (GB/GB/GB), Aston Martin Vantage, + 3.280
10. Simonsen/Farnbacher/Montanari (DK/D/I), Ferrari F 430 GT, + 3.410

Facts and figures of the 24 Hours of Le Mans

The 55-strong grid line-up for the Le Mans 24 Hours is made up of two different sports car categories: Sports prototypes and standard sports cars. The technical regulations of the long distance classic are the basis for the European Le Mans Series (LMS), in which one RS Spyder competes in 2009, and the American Le Mans Series (ALMS). All race cars take off at the same time in Le Mans. There is an overall classification and classifications for each class.

The four classes in Le Mans:
LMP1 class: Sports prototypes with up to 700 hp and a minimum weight of 900 kilograms. Power to weight ratio: ca. 1.3 kg/hp.

LMP2 class: Sports prototypes with around 440 hp (with normally aspirated engines) and an 825 kilogram minimum weight. Power to weight ratio: ca. 1.8 kg/hp. The Porsche RS Spyder starts in this class.

GT1 class: Strongly modified standard sports car with up to 650 hp and a minimum weight of 1,125 – 1,325 kilograms.

GT2 class: Slightly modified standard sports cars with 450 to 460 hp and a minimum weight of 1,145 – 1,345 kilograms. The Porsche 911 GT3 RSR competes in this class.

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[Source: Porsche}